Whether you want to add a touch of class with a jazzy sax and piano duo playing romantic ballads or prefer to pump up the energy with a hard-charging party band, there’s nothing quite like providing live music to set your wedding apart from those that only provide canned music and DJs.

But your dream day can turn into a nightmare if the band shows up late reeking of marijuana, chugs down your best alcohol, insults your guests and plays at an ear-splitting volume that drives away half the guests and gets the cops called out. So it pays to do your homework ahead of time to make sure you get what you expect and pay for.

Your safest bet is to hire musicians you’ve seen at other weddings who played music you enjoyed – and conducted themselves in a professional manner. If you haven’t been to any weddings lately featuring live music, check out the musicians at restaurants and clubs that provide live music. Shutters Brasserie in Brentwood and Bases Loaded in Antioch are two East County restaurants that offer live music on weekends. Shutters provides jazz piano while Bases focuses on rock and pop bands.

The next safest course is to ask for recommendations from family, friends, coworkers and neighbors who have been impressed by the live music they’ve heard at a wedding, restaurant or club. You can also rely on a wedding planner to hire the musicians.

If none of those options works for you, try placing a posting on Craigslist under the Gigs listing. Be prepared, though, to get dozens of responses from musicians and bands. The Bay Area is loaded with talented musicians who have too few places and opportunities to play – and often find the pay quite low when they do find a local gig. So the opportunity to play at a wedding, which usually pays much better than a bar gig, brings musicians out of the woodwork.

To winnow down the choice, you should probably eliminate groups without a Web site providing audio or video clips of their music. Find the ones you like and, if possible, check them out live at an upcoming gig to make sure the music they provide on their site is actually the sound they produce in person. Talk to them during the break and get a few references from weddings they’ve played. Then call those newlyweds to find out how it went.

Antioch saxophonist Malcolm Hunter, who regularly plays duo gigs with keyboardist Jeff Gill at the Antioch Lone Tree Golf and Event Center, provides a list on his Web site (www.home.comcast.net/~mrdbhunter) of venues he’s played at and will be playing at, along with organizations that have hired him, clips of his music, a bio, comments from satisfied customers and a statement of his commitment to provide, as his site puts it, “special music for your special event.”

Before you get too far in your research, however, one of the biggest considerations should be your music budget and what kind of music you prefer. Hunter usually provides a sax/keyboard duo playing jazzy romantic ballads such as “When I Fall in Love,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “My Funny Valentine.” He usually plays for two hours, providing background music as guests arrive and eat, and charges $300 per hour.

Hunter also plays with a smooth jazz quintet called Daybreak that can provide more upbeat music for dancing, including tunes by Grover Washington, Dave Koz, Kenny G and Spyro Gyra. Daybreak charges $500 per hour. Expect to pay double or triple that rate, however, if you’d prefer to hire a larger band with vocalists and a horn section playing the latest pop/rock/party hits.